New Heights Church planning to give away clothes, school supplies

The members of New Heights Church are hoping to help local children say goodbye to summer while starting off the school year on the right foot.

The church has a back-to-school party planned for Sunday in which local children are invited to play on water slides, collect backpacks full of free school supplies and select new clothes. A barbecue lunch will also be provided, said the Rev. Tommy Jackson, lead pastor for the church.

"This is a way of fulfilling our mission, which is to love God passionately and love people intentionally," Jackson said. "We're hoping to make a difference in the lives of the children of our community. Indirectly, we'll also be impacting their parents."

The church will also be giving away gift certificates to Walmart and other local stores, he said. There are no income requirements to participate, and the families do not need to be members of the church.

"This is just something we felt led to do, and we're hoping to have a lot of people turn out for it," he said. "We understand there's a lot going on this weekend as parents complete all the tasks they need to do to have their kids ready for school on Monday, but hopefully this will be somewhere they'll come to for fellowship and fun."